Entries in AMR
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Tim Boyle/Bloomberg via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- US Airways appears to be pushing ahead with calls for a merger with American Airlines.

Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports US Airways has told some of the bankrupt carrier's creditors that combining both airlines would lead to over $1.5 billion in cost savings and added sales.

AMR Corporation, the parent company of American Airlines, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last November.

Last month, it was first reported that US Airways was in talks to takeover American. According to Bloomberg, proposals for the merger, laid out by US Airways executives, received a positive reception from some of the carrier's creditors.﻿

Tim Boyle/Bloomberg via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- US Airways is reportedly in talks to takeover the now bankrupt parent company of American Airlines, AMR Corporation.

People familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg that proposals for the merger, laid out by US Airways executives, received a positive reception from some of the bankrupt carrier's creditors.

According to the sources, the goal is to combine both airlines before AMR exits Chapter 11.

Talks of the possible takeover come four months after AMR filed for bankruptcy protection. After years of losses, the company filed for Chapter 11 on Nov. 29 "in order to achieve a cost and debt structure that is competitive in the airline industry."﻿

Jin Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Businesses make mistakes all the time. Unfortunately, when they blunder, the repercussions can be wide, from customer data being compromised to employees losing their jobs and shareholders getting wiped out.

Here's a look at 10 foul-ups of 2011:

1. Bank of America: The $5 Fiasco

When Bank of America announced plans in late September to charge customers for using their debit card for purchases, customers expressed their outrage in dramatic fashion.

Over 150,000 people signed a petition asking the bank to cancel the $5 monthly fee and over 650,000 people joined Bank Transfer Day, shifting funds to credit unions.

The bank, still reeling from the mortgage meltdown, relented and announced on Nov. 1 the fee's cancellation.

2. Netflix: Red Envelope Company Sees Red

DVD-rental company Netflix lost 800,000 of its 20 million members after it announced a new pricing plan and streaming service, Qwikster, in October. CEO Reed Hastings soon after canceled plans to split the service and apologized to customers, but the damage was done. Netflix's stock price, which was near $300 a share in mid-July and has a 52-week high of $304.79, recently traded at $70.

3. Family Radio: Doomsday Averted, But Not for Radio Station

Companies frequently miss forecasts but when Harold Camping, president of radio station Family Radio, predicted the end of the world twice this year, some may have breathed a sigh of relief.

Camping first predicted the end of the world for May 21, 2011 investing heavily with millions of dollars in a national advertising campaign. After the world pressed on, Camping then changed his forecast to Oct. 21. Camping reportedly apologized for his failed predictions.

"I should not have said that, and I apologize," Camping said, according to San Francisco's KGO-TV. "God is merciful."

4. RIM's Blackberry: Worldwide Outage

Outages for Canadian company Research in Motion's (RIM) Blackberry mobile device caused a stir after service in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia was knocked out Oct. 12.

David Yach, chief technology officer for software, said the problem originated in Europe and spread because there was a massive backlog of emails. CEO Mike Lazaridis apologized in a Youtube video.

The company's shares fell more than 75 percent in 2011, with growing domination from smartphones with Google's Android software and the iPhone. The Wall Street Journal called 2011 a "disastrous" year for RIM and investors and analysts have called for the board to take stronger control of the company.

5. Goldman Sachs: Occupy Losses

In October, venerated investment bank Goldman Sachs reported its second loss since its IPO in May 1999, missing estimates for the second consecutive quarter. The company reported a loss of $393 million in the third quarter compared with a $1.9 billion profit one year ago. Worries in both debt and equity markets caused softness in the bank's revenue, according to Janney Capital Markets.

Goldman Sachs and other large banks attracted the ire of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which launched on Sept. 17, for their role in risky bets in the subprime mortgage market that contributed to the country's near financial collapse.

6. Sony PlayStation: The Year of the Hack?

In April, Sony Corp. said the credit card data of PlayStation users may have been stolen in a hack that forced it to shut down its PlayStation Network for a week, disconnecting around 77 million user accounts around the world.

The company said there was no evidence that credit card information was compromised, but said it could not rule out that possibility, leading PlayStation users -- and their parents -- to take precautions with their data.

Several other companies confessed to data breaches, such as investment bank Morgan Stanley and online marketing firm Epsilon.

7. Borders: Bankruptcy, Liquidation

After bookseller Borders filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, the chain began liquidating bookstores and closed over 500 bookstores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico that it owned at the beginning of the year. Borders Group, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., announced 6,000 layoffs February 17 and 10,700 layoffs July 19.

8. American Airlines: Friendly Skies of Bankruptcy

American Airlines' parent company, AMR, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 29, faced with rising fuel prices and high labor costs. While operations continued for customers, the airline said its employees would be the most affected.

The company, based in Fort Worth, Texas, was the only major U.S. airline that did not seek bankruptcy protection after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Unlike other carriers, American did not merge with a competitor, and it was the only major airline to lose money last year.

CEO Gerard Arpey stepped down and was replaced by Thomas Horton, formerly the company's president, to run the nation's third-largest airline. AMR shares plunged 85 percent to just 25 cents a share in trading that day. Thursday the New York Stock Exchange announced that the company's shares would be delisted.

9. U.S. Postal Service: Shuttering Post Offices

The U.S. Postal Service had a dramatic last few years as post offices have closed in rural towns, and in 2011 the organization was near a default and faced a $9 billion deficit.

With the prevalence of e-mail and delivery competitors FedEx and UPS, the future of the postal service is very much in doubt.

On Sep. 15, the Postal Service announced it would begin studying 252 out of 487 mail processing facilities for possible closure but it has not yet confirmed closures of those facilities.

The Postal Service announced on Dec. 5 that it wants to cut an estimated $3 billion in costs to avoid a bankruptcy. The proposal includes the elimination of one-day delivery and closing half of its processing centers.

10. MF Global

The bankruptcy of the commodities trading firm MF Global on Oct. 31 was the eighth largest in U.S. history. About $1.2 billion in client money went missing as the company shut its doors. Jon Corzine, former senator and governor of New Jersey who resigned as CEO on Nov. 3, said he does not know where the money is.

After making risky bets on the European debt crisis, the company's bankruptcy has "devastated thousands of customers -- including farmers, ranchers, grain elevators, small business owners and others," said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. A Senate hearing about the missing money took place on Dec. 13, describing outrage from lawmakers and clients.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images(FORT WORTH, Texas) -- Soon after 2012 rolls around, shares of American Airlines will no longer be traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

The carrier's parent company, AMR Corporation, announced Thursday that the stock will be delisted before the market opens next Thursday, Jan. 5. The stock exchange told AMR it was taking action after the average closing price of the company's stock dropped under $1 for 30 straight days.

AMR's delisting comes after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, "in order to achieve a cost and debt structure that is competitive in the airline industry."

In a statement, the carrier said the decision to reorganize was made "in order to achieve a cost and debt structure that is competitive in the airline industry," adding that it was in the "best interest of the Company and its stakeholders."

"This was a difficult decision, but it is the necessary and right path for us to take -- and take now -- to become a more efficient, financially stronger, and competitive airline," said Thomas W. Horton, the president of AMR and American Airlines.

In a separate move, Horton was named Tuesday as the new chairman and CEO of AMR, succeeding Gerard Arprey, who announced on Monday his decision to retire.

Despite the filing, American Airlines says it expects to continue operating normally while it straightens out its finances.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- American Airlines’ stock dropped 33.1 percent by the end of Monday to $1.98 a share on rumors the company could file for bankruptcy, which the company adamantly denied.

American Airlines is the country’s third largest airline, based in Fort Worth, Texas, and is owned by AMR along with American Eagle Airlines. American and American Eagle have about 88,500 full-time and part-time employees worldwide, according to the company.

On Monday, the company denied rumors that bankruptcy could be in its future.

“While we generally don’t comment on AMR’s share price performance, there is no company-driven news that has caused the volatility in AMR shares today,” a spokesman said in an emailed statement. “The pause in trading of AMR shares was due to automatic triggers established by the New York Stock Exchange (under Rule 80C) that pause trading based on share price volatility."

“Regarding rumors and speculation about a court-supervised restructuring, that is certainly not our goal or our preference. We know we need to improve our results, and we are keenly focused as we work to achieve that,” the company said in its statement.